# Cerveteri and Tarquinia A day trip from Rome to the World Heritage Etruscan necropolises: Cerveteri's house-like tombs and Tarquinia's painted tombs. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/italy/lazio/cerveteri-tarquinia · Revisado: 2026-11-12 The Etruscans dominated central Italy before Rome, and what survives best of them is their tombs. Two of their great cities, Caere and Tarquinia, north of Rome beside the coast, left enormous necropolises that have been World Heritage Sites since 2004. They are two different and complementary visits: at Cerveteri, architecture, with tombs cut into the tuff like houses; at Tarquinia, painting, with chambers decorated with banquets, dances and games. You can do both in a day from Rome, by car. ## What can you see in Cerveteri? The Banditaccia necropolis is a city of the dead with streets, about 2 km from the village. Large round grass-covered mounds and rows of house-shaped tombs, with rooms, doors and ceilings with beams carved in the stone. The most famous is the Tomb of the Reliefs, with painted stucco walls reproducing household objects. Afterwards, in the castle at the top of the village, the Cerite National Museum shows what was inside the tombs. ## What can you see in Tarquinia? Start with the National Museum, in the Palazzo Vitelleschi: the winged terracotta horses, the sarcophagi and several painted tombs reassembled on the top floor. Then go up to the Monterozzi necropolis, where you go down to the tombs by stairs under little huts and see the paintings behind glass. End with a stroll through the medieval old town, with its stone towers, as far as Santa Maria in Castello and its view over the sea. ## How do you get there from Rome? By car is the most practical. Along the A12 motorway towards Civitavecchia, Cerveteri is about 45 minutes from the centre of Rome and Tarquinia about an hour and a quarter; between the two, another 45 minutes. Both necropolises have parking at the entrance. From Fiumicino airport, Cerveteri is about half an hour away. Without a car, regional coast trains stop at Ladispoli-Cerveteri and Tarquinia, but the stations are several kilometres from the villages and the necropolises: you need a local bus or taxi. If you go without a car, choose just one of the two towns. ## How much does it cost and when to go? The archaeological park sells one ticket per town, covering necropolis and museum, at €13, valid for 30 days, and a circuit of the four sites at €21, valid for four months. Under-18s enter free, and EU citizens aged 18 to 25 pay €2. Everything closes on Mondays. The museums open from 9:00 to 19:30 all year; the necropolises, until 17:00 from late October to late March and until 19:30 the rest of the year. Spring and autumn are the best seasons; in summer, start first thing because there is almost no shade. ## Where to eat and sleep? In Tarquinia, Namo Ristobottega cooks Tuscia produce and opens on Sunday lunchtime in winter, and Arcadia is next to the museum. For sleeping, the Hotel Tarconte, inside the old town with a sea view, or Valle del Marta, with a pool, below the village. ## Dónde está - Cerca: Lake Bracciano (a 24.8 km), Viterbo and Villa Lante (a 35.0 km), Calcata and the Treja Valley (a 39.7 km), Caprarola and Bomarzo (a 40.2 km) ## Qué hacer - **Banditaccia Necropolis in Cerveteri** (2 h 30 · Families, teenagers, archaeology · €13 with the Cerite Museum; under-18s free): The Banditaccia is the necropolis of Caere, one of the great Etruscan cities, on the outskirts of present-day Cerveteri. It is not a field of ruins: it is a city of the dead with streets, where the tombs were dug into the tuff like houses, with rooms, doors, ceilings with beams carved in the stone and beds for the dead. On the outside, many are covered by large round grass-covered tumuli. It has been a World Heritage site together with Tarquinia since 2004. What to see Follow the Via dei Sepolcri and enter the open tombs: the great tumuli, the cube tombs lined up like houses in a street and, above all, the Tomb of the Reliefs, of the 4th century BC, with walls and pillars covered in painted stucco reliefs that reproduce the objects of the house: weapons, kitchen utensils, animals. Wear comfortable shoes: there are steps and uneven ground. Opening times and tickets Tuesday to Sunday; closed on Mondays. From 25 October 2026 to 27 March 2027, from 9:00 to 17:00 (last entry at 16:00); from late March to October, until 19:30. The Cerveteri combined ticket, necropolis and Cerite Museum, costs €13 and is valid for 30 days; the circuit of the park's four sites, with Tarquinia, €21, is valid for four months. Under-18s enter free; ages 18 to 25, EU citizens, €2. On the first Sunday of the month entry is free. Getting there The necropolis is about 2 km from the centre of Cerveteri, along a road that is partly pavemented; by car there is parking at the entrance. From Rome, about 45 km by the A12 or the Aurelia. - **Monterozzi Necropolis in Tarquinia: the painted tombs** (2 h · Ancient art, teenagers, families · €13 with the Tarquinia Museum; under-18s free): On the hill of Monterozzi, on the outskirts of Tarquinia, the Etruscans dug thousands of tombs, and some two hundred have painted walls: it is the great surviving ensemble of Etruscan painting. On the outside you see a meadow with small huts; inside each one, a staircase goes down to the chamber, which you look at through a pane of glass. Banquets with musicians and dancers, games, hunting and fishing scenes, leopards, dolphins: the life the Etruscans wanted to take with them. What to see Not all the tombs are open at once. Among the best known are the Tomb of the Leopards, with a banquet beneath two big cats, the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing and the Tomb of the Jugglers. The Pallottino Tomb is temporarily closed for maintenance. Allow about two hours. Opening times and tickets Tuesday to Sunday; closed on Mondays. From 25 October 2026 to 27 March 2027, from 9:00 to 17:00 (last entry at 16:00); in spring and summer, until 19:30. Tarquinia combined ticket, necropolis and museum, €13; circuit of the park's four sites, €21. Under-18s free. Getting there About 2 km from the centre of Tarquinia, by car or on foot along a road with little shade. There is parking at the entrance. - **Cerite National Museum** (1 h · Completing the necropolis; rainy days · Included in the €13 combined ticket): The museum is in the Ruspoli castle, on Piazza Santa Maria, at the top of the old town of Cerveteri. It displays what came out of the tombs of the Banditaccia and other necropolises of Caere: Greek and Etruscan vases, bucchero, grave goods and objects of daily life. The park presents there the temporary exhibition Veder greco in Etruria, on the hydriai of Cerveteri. Opening times and tickets Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:00 to 19:30 all year (last entry at 18:30); closed on Mondays. It is included in the Cerveteri combined ticket, €13, together with the necropolis. Temporary exhibitions carry a €2 supplement. Fitting it in Best after the necropolis: having seen the tombs, you understand what the objects were for. From the museum, the old town of Cerveteri can be seen in a short time, and in the square there are bars for a bite to eat. - **Tarquinia National Museum in Palazzo Vitelleschi** (1 h 30 · Before the necropolis; rainy days; teenagers · Included in the €13 combined ticket): The museum occupies Palazzo Vitelleschi, a 15th-century palace on Piazza Cavour, at the entrance to the old town. It is one of the great Etruscan museums of Italy, and its most famous piece is the winged horses, a terracotta high relief that decorated a temple of ancient Tarquinia. It also has rooms of sarcophagi with the dead reclining on the lid, imported Greek pottery and, on the top floor, several painted tombs that were removed from the necropolis to save them and reassembled here as they were. This year the park presents there the exhibition In viaggio nel Regno delle Ombre, on the Etruscan painting of Tarquinia and Orvieto. Opening times and tickets Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:00 to 19:30 (last entry at 18:30); closed on Mondays. Included in the Tarquinia combined ticket (€13) with the Monterozzi necropolis. Under-18s free. Temporary exhibitions carry a €2 supplement. Fitting it in Start here and then go to the necropolis, about 2 km away: the museum prepares you for the tombs. From the palace terrace you can see the sea. - **Medieval Tarquinia: towers, walls and Santa Maria in Castello** (1 h 30 · A walk after the museum; photography): Tarquinia is not just tombs. Its old town, surrounded by walls on top of a hill a few kilometres from the sea, preserves many medieval stone towers and streets of tuff houses. The walk Leave Palazzo Vitelleschi and walk through the centre to the western end of the hill, where the Romanesque church of Santa Maria in Castello, from the 12th century, stands alone beside the remains of the old citadel, with the countryside and the sea in front. Return through the streets of the towers and the town hall square. You can see it all in an hour and a half. When Late in the afternoon, when the sun sinks over the sea and the towers turn golden. It is a good end to the day of the tombs. ## Dónde comer - **Namo Ristobottega** (Restaurant, Tarquinia, €€). Qué pedir: the seasonal dishes with produce of the Viterbese; ask about the menu of the day - **Arcadia** (Restaurant, Tarquinia, €€). Qué pedir: classic and modern Italian cooking with products of the Tuscia; ask about the dishes of the day ## By car: By car: both necropolises in a day By car you can do Cerveteri and Tarquinia on the same day: 45 minutes from Rome to Cerveteri on the A12 and another 45 to Tarquinia. Both necropolises are a couple of kilometres from their towns, with parking at the entrance, and in Tarquinia the museum is inside the old town. Presupuesto orientativo: 80–160 € por persona y día. ### Dónde dormir if you're driving - **Hotel Tarconte** (Hotel): In the centre of Tarquinia The Tarconte is at Via della Tuscia, 21, and boasts of being the only hotel inside the historic centre of Tarquinia: the National Museum is a few steps away and the Monterozzi necropolis a kilometre away. It is in the upper part, so from the panoramic rooms and the terrace you can see the sea at the Lido di Tarquinia, the Tolfa mountains and, on clear days, the coast as far as the islands of Giglio and Elba. Rooms and services It has 52 rooms with bathroom, air conditioning, wifi and television: standard, panoramic and panoramic with balcony. There is a restaurant in the hotel and an associated one, La Capanna del Buttero, a 24-hour reception, parking available and agreements with beaches at the Lido di Tarquinia. Pets are welcome. Who it suits For sleeping in Tarquinia and doing the museum and the tombs without driving within the town, or for combining the necropolises with the beach in summer. From here you can also reach Tuscania, Vulci or Civita di Bagnoregio by car, according to the hotel itself. - **Villa Hotel Valle del Marta** (Country house): Countryside a stroll from the centre Valle del Marta is on Via Aurelia Vecchia, km 93, in the valley below Tarquinia, about 800 metres' walk from the historic centre. It is a hotel with farmhouse architecture, surrounded by olive trees and garden, with a pool, a wellness centre with treatments by reservation and country-style rooms, some with a porch. How it works Check-in is from 14:00 to 22:00 and check-out until 11:00; late check-out, if available, costs €10 an hour. For dinner, the hotel offers a room service with a fixed menu of home cooking, which must be ordered by the previous day; in summer there is a light lunchtime menu. On their website they also recommend a list of restaurants in the centre with their closing days. Cancellations without penalty are made in writing up to 48 hours before. They can arrange transfers from the airport, the port or the station. Who it suits For those who come by car and want a quiet night with a pool after the tombs, with the old town a walk away for dinner and the Lido beach a few minutes away. ## By plane: Fly to Rome and drive along the Etruscan coast Cerveteri and Tarquinia are north of Rome, by the coast, and Fiumicino airport (FCO) is on the way: it has direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Málaga, Alicante, Palma and the Canary Islands, among others. From Fiumicino, Cerveteri is about half an hour by car on the A12 motorway and Tarquinia a little over an hour. Ciampino (CIA) is on the other side of Rome. ### Dónde dormir if you're flying - **Hotel Tarconte** (Hotel): In the centre of Tarquinia The Tarconte is at Via della Tuscia, 21, and boasts of being the only hotel inside the historic centre of Tarquinia: the National Museum is a few steps away and the Monterozzi necropolis a kilometre away. It is in the upper part, so from the panoramic rooms and the terrace you can see the sea at the Lido di Tarquinia, the Tolfa mountains and, on clear days, the coast as far as the islands of Giglio and Elba. Rooms and services It has 52 rooms with bathroom, air conditioning, wifi and television: standard, panoramic and panoramic with balcony. There is a restaurant in the hotel and an associated one, La Capanna del Buttero, a 24-hour reception, parking available and agreements with beaches at the Lido di Tarquinia. Pets are welcome. Who it suits For sleeping in Tarquinia and doing the museum and the tombs without driving within the town, or for combining the necropolises with the beach in summer. From here you can also reach Tuscania, Vulci or Civita di Bagnoregio by car, according to the hotel itself. - **Villa Hotel Valle del Marta** (Country house): Countryside a stroll from the centre Valle del Marta is on Via Aurelia Vecchia, km 93, in the valley below Tarquinia, about 800 metres' walk from the historic centre. It is a hotel with farmhouse architecture, surrounded by olive trees and garden, with a pool, a wellness centre with treatments by reservation and country-style rooms, some with a porch. How it works Check-in is from 14:00 to 22:00 and check-out until 11:00; late check-out, if available, costs €10 an hour. For dinner, the hotel offers a room service with a fixed menu of home cooking, which must be ordered by the previous day; in summer there is a light lunchtime menu. On their website they also recommend a list of restaurants in the centre with their closing days. Cancellations without penalty are made in writing up to 48 hours before. They can arrange transfers from the airport, the port or the station. Who it suits For those who come by car and want a quiet night with a pool after the tombs, with the old town a walk away for dinner and the Lido beach a few minutes away. ### Servicios - **Regional train Rome – Ladispoli-Cerveteri – Tarquinia**: The coastal regional trains, towards Civitavecchia and Grosseto, stop at Ladispoli-Cerveteri and Tarquinia; the stations are a few kilometres from each town. ## As a family: A city of the dead to explore With children, the Banditaccia of Cerveteri works like a park: streets between grass-covered tumuli and tombs you can walk into. Tarquinia, with its staircases down to the painted tombs, suits ages 8 or 10 and up better. Under-18s do not pay. ### What works best The Banditaccia, for exploring tumuli and tombs like houses The Tarquinia Museum, with the winged horses Monterozzi, if they can stand a while looking at paintings through glass ### Where to stay Villa Hotel Valle del Marta, with a pool and garden Hotel Tarconte, in the centre, with panoramic rooms ### Where to eat Namo Ristobottega or Arcadia, in Tarquinia ### Good to know No pushchairs: stairs and uneven ground in the tombs; a baby carrier is better Water and a hat in summer ### Qué hacer as a family - Banditaccia Necropolis in Cerveteri - Monterozzi Necropolis in Tarquinia: the painted tombs - Tarquinia National Museum in Palazzo Vitelleschi ## With teenagers: Tombs from the inside and 2,500-year-old paintings The Etruscan necropolises grip teenagers more than many museums: you go into the tombs, down stairs into dark chambers, and see paintings of banquets and games that are 2,500 years old. And under-18s get in free. ### What works best The Banditaccia: going into the tombs dug like houses and walking their streets The painted tombs of Monterozzi, with leopards, dancers and wrestlers The Tarquinia Museum, with the winged horses and tombs reassembled on the top floor The Cerite Museum, to see what was inside the tombs ### Where to stay Hotel Tarconte, with a terrace over the sea for sunset ### Where to eat Arcadia, next to the Tarquinia museum ### Good to know Everything closes on Mondays In summer, start early: the necropolises have little shade ### Qué hacer with teenagers - Banditaccia Necropolis in Cerveteri - Monterozzi Necropolis in Tarquinia: the painted tombs - Cerite National Museum - Tarquinia National Museum in Palazzo Vitelleschi ## Consejos ### Buy the circuit If you're going to both towns, €21 for the four sites instead of €26. ### In Tarquinia, the museum first You reach the tombs knowing what to look at. ### Don't go on a Monday Both necropolises and both museums are closed. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### Can you see Cerveteri and Tarquinia in one day? Yes, by car: Cerveteri in the morning and Tarquinia in the afternoon, or the other way round. ### How much does the ticket cost? €13 per town (necropolis and museum), €21 for both; free for under-18s. ### Which day is it closed? Mondays. ### Which should I choose if I can only see one? Tarquinia if you're interested in painting; Cerveteri if you're going with children or are drawn to the architecture of the tombs. ### Can you go by train from Rome? Yes, on the coast regional trains, but the stations are far from the necropolises: you need a bus or taxi.